How do you hold them? I've seen photos and videos with a many ways of holding the cones, although some of the cones look more like bags. Some cones look very stiff, some look very flat, some look very floppy. What do you use, and what are the benefits of different cones, holding styles?

How do you re-tape the cones as the paste dwindles? Reopen a flap, roll and tape? Fold over and add tape?

Do you seal the tips of left over cones? I tried a flat tab of tape but I think it left a bit or residue. I've just let it be and then pinched the dry paste into a paper towel. That worked okay.

I make mine stiffish (floppy ones feel less secure to me) and I hold it like a pencil, but toward the top so I can squeeze paste toward the tip. So far as rolling it down, I untape, roll down, and retape. I don't seal the tips of leftover cones.

Do you favor longer or shorter cones? Narrow or fat? I feel like I have better control as I reach the middle or bottom half of the cone. I'm not sure if it's easier for me to mainpulate the smaller cone, or if I'm "warmed up" by the time I reach that point. :-)

I prefer my cones to be about 6 inches long and about an inch and a half, two inches at the widest part of the cone. Too narrow and I don't have enough control; too fat and I can't get my fingers around well enough to use it.

I like small, sturdy cones made from floraphane. After going back and forth from triangles to rectangles, I'm currently using triangles cut from 8" squares.

I love Henna Crone Debi Reiser's trick of rolling cones with a sequin pin in the tip. It makes a perfect straight, sturdy tip which is securely closed for filling and seals the cone between uses. All of my cones now have a consistent size hole. No more wonky, spirialing paste from jagged, uneven cuts.

I fold one end of the tape over to make a little "pull tab" before taping the top so I can easily untape, roll the top down, and re-tape as needed.

Keep experimenting. Nothing works all the time in all situations. It's good to have a variety of options to try.

Saturday my daughter and I went to a Belly Dancing event and spent some time watching a henna artist. Although she used a jaq bottle it gave me some ideas about rhythm and wrist movements and how to keep the heel of my hand out of the paste. I also realized my paste has been way too thick!

The next day I decanted some Henna Caravan paste for the jaq bottle it came in to a pre made cone from HP... WOW! What a huge difference in control and flow. Even my daughter, who has nimble hands was impressed. Until then she preferred using the bottle, now we know it's the flow of the paste.

Sooooo. I grabbed my baggie of nearly spent cones squeezed them into a bowl and thinned the mix with lemon juice and tried it in a cone. Yippie!!! Success. It flows from the cone with very little pressure compared to the previous mixtures.

Katie's hand based on a design posted by Heather, on an unknown hand by and unknown artist at a gathering.

My cone holding is...strange. People who have attempted to sum it up verbally after I show them say I hold the cone sort of like how one holds chopsticks. I also hold a pencil strangely, just about the same as how I hold the cone. My second grade handwriting teacher really tried to beat this out of me, but failed. It just feels right...

I'm pinching the tip from above with my thumb and middle finger and that's what I'm mostly using to guide it around, while the tip rests on my ring finger for support, and I use my my index finger to apply pressure.

I wouldn't recommend trying to replicate it... I'd just say pick up the cone and see what way of holding it feels best and go with that. If whatever you're doing doesn't feel comfortable or right, then try your own different ways until something clicks.

I don't roll/tape cones down as I use them anymore, although I used to. I use my index finger to hold down the empty bit of the cone so that it stays quite full and stiff.

I don't reseal leftover cones either, just like you. I find that the bit of henna that dries at the tip is enough to seal it reasonably well for my purposes... then I just squeeze that out/off when it's time to use the cone again...again, just like you :)

Oh and that design you posted is based off something I did at the 2009 Northesat Henna Gathering and posted here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/7394880@N04/3400884425/in/set-72157616168872012/It pretty clearly says "Heather on Cheryl" ... not that I would expect anyone to remember such details when they're replicating a design! I appreciate that you even remembered it was me who posted it :)

My sister's name is Heather so I had a tie in to remember your name in connection to the design, but I couldn't remember where to find the photo.... I've gone a bit over board reading about henna and looking through albums when folks post a link. :-)

I'm enjoying playing henna as a craft. It's easy to learn the basic concept and relaxing to do. I like that can doodle away and can aspire to become and "artist". I like that it's portable... it's hard to take a quilt to the park in your bag. I like that there's very little waste while using henna and while creating on skin... no projects to find a home for.

Anyway, that's a whole different topic, the sustainabilty of the craft, the art of henna.

I started out with super-short fatties. OMG, I'm not kidding, it was like trying to henna with a folded slice of pizza. Now I roll outta 7.5 inch triangles, maybe 4" long by generally .75 to maybe an inch thick at the butt end. I also cut my ends and tape them shut so you can literally jump on my cones and they don't pop. (I've tried this, yes.) Any more, I like to get right down to the last inch or so of cone above the client's skin, and let it go floppy. . . I somehow squeeze with my middle and ring fingers when I need more paste, but I get the best control when I'm close in. The main rule is really, do what works for you! There's as many styles of cones and using them as there are artists. . . certainly, ask around, but if your system is weird but it works, who cares if it's weird, right?

I start out with a 6 by 8 inch rectangle , and make fat cones, and the Caravan ladies all like them.

Each cones is sealed up with a tiny rubberband that can be pushed down with no tape worries .

I roll every cone closed and they use good quality scissors to cut the tip. I can't imagine how we would manage if the cones were rolled open and then filled with leaking henna all over the place during a working festival ! And pins that could be everywhere- DANGER , Danger, Danger ! there would be pins all over the place being stepped on and getting lost .

For one person working alone or at home it would be fine, but with a large team it would be just one more thing that could be screwed up. I can envision pins coming out and impaling other cones and making leaks all over and that would be a huge mess too.

We are all about the KISS method in our work , whether it is for mixing or work set up.

>>For one person working alone or at home it would be fine, but with a large team it would be just one more thing that could be screwed up. I can envision pins coming out and impaling other cones and making leaks all over and that would be a huge mess too.

LOL! Flavia, that's quite a mental image! Yes, it certainly isn't suited to large-scale operations. I'm very careful about keeping track of the pin when I take it out so I can put it back when I finish.

I really like the floraphane I bought from you. It holds its shape, so the pin doesn't fall out on its own.

Vampkat -- sequin pins are very short and stubby. You can find them in the sewing notions department or craft supply section. Here's what they look like:

I also use a nail clipper to cut them open. I keep it in a ribbon around my neck...

I also roll my cones really tight. I like 1 mil cello wrap to do the job. I do use a bunch of different materials, but the 1 mil cello is my current favorite. I cut a 10" square, cut it on the diagonal and then cut on the diagonal the other diresction, getting four cones out of one square.

I think everyone just find's out the perfect way of cones for oneself. My cones are a lil bit like the one on Kim's pic.

Here is my hold - I hope you can see this FB pic. And I really like to observe on different materials how different artsist hold theyr cones - I think it is almost as unique as fingerprint.

Only thing I make absolutely different is this... I don't know how to say it - shorten cone when it becomes empty to make the pressure inside the cone right. I use these things. I have never seen anybody doing it but it works really well for me and I am happy with this. I don't like tape and taping - probably I haven't seen enough A-team movies, these guys used tape for everything. Or was it McGywer...? And to be honest - I don't remember how I found this. But I realized - I will be really stressed when I don't have these things with me, it has happened some times. Nail-clippers (Henna Page's logo ones - it works like a talisman for me and I somehow feel comfortable when I have these with me) and these clips - these are always in my cone-box and some extra cilps (just in case) in several places on my hennaing bag.